2013 Travels

Brussels

Although Husband and I returned to the USA this year, bringing an end to our European travels, we still found ways to satiate our wanderlust. Our move to New York City provided us with a great base for exploring New York state and the northeastern United States, both regions we'd almost fully neglected prior to our move. We did sneak a little bit of Europe in at the beginning though, just for fun.

We started 2013 travelling. After celebrating the new year in London, we boarded the Eurostar to Brussels. After a day there we went to Duesseldorf for our flight to New York City, where we permanently relocated on January 3rd.

Cape Cod

We stayed within the city limits until June when we traveled to Cape Cod in Massachusetts for our first mini-break of the year.

The rest of the summer was mostly spent in the parks of New York City, especially once we discovered the Urban Park Rangers Family Camping program. We also spent a good deal of time at Coney Island, our favorite place in NYC and where we'll be watching the final sunset of 2013.

In late summer and early autumn we ventured into upstate New York, visiting The Adirondacks, Syracuse and the Finger Lakes region, including Watkins Glen State Park and Ithaca.

Watkins Glen State Park

From October we began venturing out of town for day trips and rambles. We hiked Bear Mountain and stayed to celebrate their Oktoberfest, we journeyed out to Long Island for their Oyster Festival and we devoted two trips to Tarrytown, rambling along different sections of the Old Croton Aqueduct.

We already have a few trips planned for 2014, including another big move, so our travel in this area of the USA will greatly decrease after 2013. And, while our travels in 2013 weren't exactly what we had expected, we do realize how incredibly fortunate we are to have had them.

In 2014, we'd like to find ourselves abroad again, with plenty more to write about. We'd also like to find ourselves healthy and happy, wherever we may be.

To all the Travel Bunnies out there, may 2014 bring you good health, happiness and many safe travels.

Pedestrian Access on the Bridges of Lower Manhattan

Brooklyn Bridge, Tillary Street entrance

There are three bridges in lower Manhattan which take you across the East River into Brooklyn: Brooklyn Bridge, Manhattan Bridge and Williamsburg Bridge.  Whilst each provides access for pedestrians and bicycles, the experience for walkers/cyclists is vastly different.  Below are my observations for each.

Brooklyn Bridge - Of the three bridges, the Brooklyn Bridge is by far the most popular for tourists.  The pedestrians and bikes share a path down the center of the bridge, separated only by a thick white line (which is often completely ignored by the camera wielding hoards).  The multi-year renovation project is near completion (June 2013) which will allow for almost completely unobstructed views across the entire length.

Nearly unobstructed view from the Brooklyn Bridge

Access from Manhattan is near City Hall, just south of Chinatown on Centre Street.  From Brooklyn there are two access points, one closer to the waterfront (Prospect Street) with stairs and another without stairs, where the cars enter at Tillary Street.

For a leisurely stroll, as stated above, the Brooklyn Bridge is not a pleasant experience.  Similar to the Millennium Bridge in London, unless you hit it on the morning commute, before the tourists arrive, you'll wind up encountering a number of stationary, picture-takers and angry bicycle commuters yelling at said picture-takers to get out of their lane.  Of course, for tourists, with its history, beauty, and nearly unobstructed views of the Manhattan skyline, the Brooklyn Bridge is a must-see.  But, please do be aware of path etiquette and stay on the appropriate side.

Manhattan Bridge

Manhattan Bridge - The Manhattan Bridge is the middle of the three bridges, accessed by a grand entrance, reminiscent of the Wellington Arch in London or Arc de Triomphe in Paris, on Canal Street in Manhattan.  The pedestrian access is on the south side and a bit dodgy.  The bicycle entrance is somewhere on the north, I assume, and kept wholly separate from the pedestrians'.  On the Brooklyn side, pedestrian access is very near the Brooklyn Bridge.

The Manhattan Bridge provides for separate paths for pedestrians and bicycles with the pedestrians on the south and the bicycles on the north.  The view, though iconic and, I believe, the one used for the New York, New York hotel and casino in Las Vegas, is marred by a chain link fence the entire length but, with some patience and ingenuity, good pictures can be had.

view through the links of the Manhattan Bridge

Trains, which also use this bridge, are at the same height as the pathways resulting in a loud and intrusive noise every few minutes as they pass.

Williamsburg Bridge, Houston Street

Williamsburg Bridge - The farthest north of the three bridges, the Williamsburg Bridge will take you from Houston Street in Manhattan to the Williamsburg neighborhood in Brooklyn.  Similar to the Manhattan Bridge, the Williamsburg Bridge also has a grand entrance but this one is reserved for the pedestrians/cyclists.

The Williamsburg Bridge shares many traits with the Manhattan Bridge but, in most cases, executed better.  For example, trains also use the Williamsburg Bridge but instead of being at the same level as pedestrians/cyclists they are located lower, changing their presence from one of irritation and nuisance to novelty and joy.  On the Manhattan side, the pedestrians and cyclists share a path upon entry for a bit before separating and continuing as on the Manhattan Bridge, with cyclists on the north and pedestrians on the south.  However, rather than being relegated to that side for the duration, there is a connection in the middle allowing for intermingling of the paths and pausing to take pictures, etc. without becoming an obstacle to others. Similarly, there is a large viewing platform on the Brooklyn side, allowing for pictures of Manhattan without blocking the path.

Williamsburg Bridge

One area for improvement, however, is the type of fencing that is used.  On the Manhattan Bridge it's just normal chain link but on the Williamsburg Bridge it is a heavy duty red fencing which is an eye sore in pictures.

Overall, I think it's lovely that there are three free and convenient methods for pedestrians and cyclists to cross the East River from Lower Manhattan.  Whilst each has their faults, the benefits and value easily outweigh them.  I'm looking forward to experiencing them by bicycle (though I'll probably do an early morning bike ride across the Brooklyn Bridge).

Fife Coastal Path: Leven to Elie

For our last ramble in Scotland, we chose to explore a different section of the Fife Coastal Path.  Our experience this past September was so idyllic, we really hoped to duplicate it whilst seeing something slightly different.

On a recent Sunday, we paid £9.50pp for Dayrider Plus bus tickets, transferred in St. Andrews, and were in Leven before we knew it.  Due to our previous experience, we expected to encounter many cute pubs on our way to Elie so we packed a lunch sans drinks and resolved to turn this 12-mile ramble into a coastal village pub crawl.

Our first stop was right off the bus in Leven, on the high street at The Windsor Hotel.  We weren't terribly impressed by Leven, or The Windsor Hotel, so we didn't linger.  After a relatively fast round of drinks, we made our way to the water to begin our ramble.

The Fife Coastal Path is very well marked and, since this portion has many sections which skirt the water's edge, also has a High Tide Alternative which we wound up taking more often than not because we found we do not much care for long distance rambling with sand in our shoes.

Our next town was Lower Largo where we encountered our favourite pub of the day, the Railway Inn.  We lingered over our drinks whilst watching the locals enjoying their sport on the telly (we couldn't see the TV but we could see and hear the crowd).  When the sun started shining through the window we decided it was time to get back outside.

The weather was of the classic Scottish 'four seasons in one day' variety.  The weather, sand, and rolling hills actually proved quite tiring and as we approached Earlsferry (no pubs), we began looking for a bus stop to take us back home.  Unfortunately, the first bus stop wasn't until the neighbouring village of Elie and we arrived just in time to watch our once-per-hour bus depart.  Luckily, Elie does have a pub and we were able to warm ourselves at the Station Buffet Bar (Scotland's Pub of the Year 2008) before catching our bus back to St. Andrews.

We had wanted to walk all the way to Pittenweem for the full 12-mile section but had to call the game at just under 9-miles.  This section of the Fife Coastal Path was also slightly disappointing.  There was a lot of garbage (see garbage sculpture, left) along the path and the villages weren't as cute as previously experienced (save Lower Largo).  Overall, we still prefer our previous experience and, though Lower Largo was the highlight of this walk, would recommend Anstruther as the place to go along the Fife coast for a day out.

For more pictures, please visit my Facebook album.

Lake District

Ravenglass estuary

In February we purchased a voucher for a 2-night stay in the Lake District National Park from KGB Deals for £79 (including breakfast). With train tickets from Dundee to Ravenglass only £34pp return, this trip to England was an effing steal and a perfect birthday present for Husband.  Last week we redeemed our voucher and had perhaps the most perfect holiday ever.

Our voucher was for The Pennington, a gorgeous hotel in Ravenglass, a charming coastal village on the west coast of the Lake District in Cumbria, England.  We arrived on Thursday morning too early to check-in (around 11am) so we dropped our suitcase off and started to explore the area.

The village is super small so we made our way along the main road to the neighbouring tourist attraction of Muncaster Castle.  We had planned to spend Friday exploring this area but we had nothing better to do and it was still relatively early so we decided to enter (£11pp).  This would prove to be the first of many correct decisions made on this trip.

Muncaster Castle

We rambled a bit through the gardens, up to Bluebell Hill, and then back down to the castle.  We started the castle tour just after 1pm and were done before 2:30pm.  The castle is still occupied by The Penningtons and it's their voices (parents, daughter, and son-in-law) who narrate the audio tour.  The tour is lovely and the castle is beautiful.  They've made it charming and comfortable but it's still definitely a drafty, old castle.  I do not envy their maintenance or energy costs but they've done a marvellous job of refurbishing and I wouldn't be averse to spending a summer in their shoes.

In addition to their lovely grounds there is an owl reserve on their land and at 2:30pm they put on a very entertaining bird show.  We got to see a common buzzard, barn owl, and eagle owl in action and learn a bit about their plight here in the UK.  Afterwards, we made our way to the actual sanctuary where they house many more varieties, all available for adoption.  The owls are fed dead chicks, which we got to witness, and then at 4:30pm the leftovers are fed to a rather large but patient group of wild herons.  The whole experience at Muncaster Castle was magical and easily supplanted Glamis Castle as our new favourite in the UK.

After the heron feeding we made our way back to Ravenglass via Public Footpath, passing fields of grazing sheep with their newborn lambs.  The return trip didn't take very long and we were quickly back at our hotel.

Day Two saw us rambling 6 miles into the park to the town of Boot, along the River Esk.  One of the great things about the UK is the fact that one can probably get anywhere via Public Footpath.  We hadn't known that there was a trail from Ravenglass to Boot but we knew we wanted to go and assumed  we'd eventually hit a trail so we just started rambling.  Public Footpaths, Bridleways, and Right of Ways (all free to use) are definitely lovely perks of the British countryside.

Our 12 mile ramble took up the bulk of our second day but it was a lovely way to while away the hours and we thoroughly enjoyed the scenery.  The highlight though was the surprise ending when we popped out of some trees to discover we were at the top of a hill, in a pasture of grazing sheep, with an amazing view of the estuary.

The rest of our time was spent sampling local real ales from the various establishments we stumbled upon, resting at our lovely hotel, and walking along the pebble beach at low tide.  We left Saturday afternoon with giant smiles on our faces from a weekend well done.

For more pictures, please visit my Facebook album here.

Perth & Kinnoull Hill

I love Perth!  It's a beautiful city with lovely people surrounded by amazing countryside.  I haven't spent nearly enough time there over these past 15+ months but yesterday I tried to remedy that.

Kinnoull Hill is an 11 km (6.9 miles) circle route, easy for those taking public transportation because the trailhead is just outside Perth's city centre.  The peak at 729 feet is reached fairly early making the bulk of the ramble rather leisurely.

The path skirts the cliff edge to the summit and then winds its way down the backside through fields of grazing horses and sheep, eventually hitting Coronation Road, the historic path of kings and queens of Scotland travelling from Falkland Castle to Scone, the traditional location of coronation.

Leaving Coronation Road at Milkboys Path, outside Scone, we followed neighbourhood streets back into Perth.  At the River Tay, the Sculpture Trail finishes the route by meandering through a few riverside parks back to the starting point.

We had envisaged spending the day in Perth but after our four hour ramble we were wiped out and increased our speed, leaving the Sculpture Trail a bit early, in order to make the return train home.

Although the day wasn't clear and we were hit by a few bursts of mist, we enjoyed this ramble immensely.  The ease of access, friendly locals, and amazing views were well worth the effort and, once again, we were reminded of how every other place in Scotland is miles more enchanting than our ever more disappointing home town of Dundee.

For more pictures, please visit my Facebook album here.

Scotland Highlights

With just 3+ months left in bonnie Scotland, I thought it would be nice to relive some of the highlights of our nearly 2 years here.

St. Andrew's Cathedral

St. Andrews: Upon first arriving in Scotland, back in Aug 2010, we were instantly enamoured by our neighbour to the south.  We've only been a few times since but each time we're amazed by its loveliness.  The residents may be a bit posh (the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge did both attend university here) but the scenery is unbelievable.

Coastal Paths: We've only done two (Seaton Cliffs and Fife Coastal Path) but we can pretty much guarantee that all of Scotland's coastal paths would make for amazing day trips.

Edinburgh Castle

Edinburgh: Of Scotland's two main cities, Edinburgh is by far the more impressive.  With the castle, festivals, and Arthur's Seat, it just can't be beat.  This is not to say that Glasgow isn't a nice city (because it is) but, as far as uniqueness on the world stage, Edinburgh is worth travelling for whilst Glasgow is worth seeing once you're here and if you have an extra day to kill.

Glamis Castle: Unlike Edinburgh Castle, Glamis Castle is still a functioning residence (with a recent link to The Royal Family).  It's super cute and fun and, to this date, our only fully functioning, non-ruin castle experience.

Rambles: Our rambles have been the best part of our time here.  They've forced us out and about and provided us with memorable experiences to cherish.  Including the aforementioned coastal walks, our countryside rambles (Pitlochry, Blair Atholl, and The Hermitage, to name just three) are definitely something we hope to replicate wherever we call home.

Since we're leaving a year earlier than planned, it's true there are things we wanted to do and see before leaving which we no longer have time to do, but we think we've seen a lot in these two years and we'd rather leave too early than too late.  Although our stay in Scotland has not quite jumped the shark it's perilously close and no one wants to read stories about our adventure once that precipice has been reached.  Thus, we begin the next adventure not completely averse to the notion of returning to Scotland in the future but happy we're leaving to experience something different.

The End Is Nigh

Dundee

This month marks the half way point for our time in Dundee, scheduled to end June 2013.  Although I can't be certain, the odds are very good we will not be sticking around here once Mike graduates in May that year.  Thus, the end of this month means just 1.5 years left to get the most out of our Dundee adventure.

Once we leave Dundee, it's very possible we'll never visit this part of the world again.  Although we plan to stay in the UK for another couple of years, most likely in London, we probably won't be using any of that time to visit Scotland, not with both England and Wales to entertain us, along with the rest of the world.  Thus, with just 18 months left in Scotland, we need to start strategizing how we spend our time so we get the most out of this opportunity.

In addition to all the places we have yet to see, we still hope to 'bag a Munro' and witness some Highland Games.  We'd like to go to a ceilidh, spend more time at the Edinburgh festivals in August, and experience the North Sea (e.g. kayak, SUP, etc.).  Our monthly rambles allow us the opportunity to see the countryside, and provide us with some guidance as to what and where, so we plan to continue those.  But, we also hope to manage a couple staycations to tackle those things on our list which will take more than just an afternoon.

Seaton Cliffs

In addition to looking ahead, it's good to look back and review what we've accomplished in our first 18 months in Scotland.  Our rambles have really provided us with the best memories of our temporary home; the Fife Coastal Path and the Seaton Cliffs were both beautiful walks and Pitlochry and Crieff were both lovely towns.  Glamis Castle is still one of our favourite castles and both Edinburgh and Glasgow are great cities.

As this is our first step on a long journey, I'm really happy with how we've structured it.  Living slightly outside ones comfort zone can be difficult and trying at times but also rewarding.  Though we long for the days of comfortable couches and close friends, the new experiences and awkward interactions on a regular basis are their own reward.

Glen Tilt

Glen Tilt is in the Cairngorms National Park, just outside the village of Blair Atholl (pronounced like asshole not A-hole), the village surrounding Blair Castle.  This is a five hour hike and, with our shorter days, we needed to get an early start if we were to avoid being stuck in the Cairngorms after dark and perhaps dying of exposure.  Thus, we grabbed the 6:52am train to Blair Atholl (via Perth) this past Saturday morning in order to experience the ramble at its most ideal (with autumn colours) whilst simultaneously living to tell about it.  As it turned out, starting at 9:15am did not provide us with enough time and we wound up having to abort the mission in order to make it home alive.

We arrived in Blair Atholl before 9am but wandered around a bit in order to see what the village had to offer.  For your information, the village has nothing more to offer than what is visible from the train platform.  There is one inn with a restaurant and bar left unstaffed, a staffed pub around the back of the inn, a convenience store around the corner, a working mill (only open April-October), and a post office.  The castle is a bit outside of town (the town being those four buildings and outside being a few steps beyond them) and where our walk began.

After grabbing some picnic supplies and coffee from the convenience store, we headed towards the castle.  Although the beginning of our walk takes us down the castle's driveway, we actually never glimpsed the castle.  There was a part of the walk which supposedly overlooks the castle and Blair Atholl but we never got to that part.

Our first missed turn happened almost immediately after the trailhead and we didn't become aware of it until we got to the bottom of the hill.  Realising we shouldn't be crossing a river, we backtracked all the way back up the hill to where we should've turned.  For your information, the trail was well marked with yellow arrows on posts which we, for some reason, were incapable of finding.  This pattern of missing turns and having to backtrack for quite a distance would repeat itself at least two more times throughout our day and is the reason we weren't able to finish the walk.  What was supposed to be a five hour walk turned into a six hour walk because of our poor navigation skills.  But, the scenery was beautiful and we had a great time, minus the last bit where we were so confused we gave up and just followed a road back into town.

Six hours later, with sore feet and bruised egos, we wandered into the only pub in town to wait the two hours for our train back home.  Happily, this was just what we needed in order to lift our spirits.  We had a great time sitting next to the fire with our pints, warming up, and reliving the ramble which beat us.  Although resigned to defeat for now, we'll definitely be back.  We can't allow Glen Tilt to stand undefeated.  Hear that, Glen Tilt?  We'll be back and next time we're bringing friends.

For more pictures, please visit my Facebook album here.

Pitlochry

Pitlochry is located in the lovely area just west of Tayside (where Dundee is located) called Perthshire.  Less than two hours from us via train, Pitlochry is a hopping town with two distilleries, a brewery, a dam, a theatre, and a whole lot of people on a Saturday night.  We weren't actually planning a day in Pitlochry, just a stopover for the Blair Athol Distillery.  But, then we heard about the Edradour Distillery, Scotland's smallest, and the Moulin brewery, both right outside of town, and decided it deserved a full day's attention.

We started our day leisurely, departing Dundee around 10am.  We had a short layover in Perth, where we've found we enjoy grabbing a sophisticated cuppa at the Station Hotel right outside in the car park, but were in Pitlochry before noon.  We immediately headed in the direction of the Blair Athol distillery but wound up on an unplanned detour to the Pitlochry dam and fish ladder.  Since the salmon weren't running and the visitor centre was closed, we quickly reversed course.

The Blair Athol Distillery is right outside of town (not sure how we got lost) and possesses a nice visitor centre focused on Bell's Whisky, which contains Blair Athol in its blend, a good gift shop, and the best tour ever.  Our tour guide was amazing!  He had both great historical knowledge as well as general knowledge and, best of all, he was able to explain everything to us in a way which we understood.  We never have to go on another tour again, this guy was THAT good.  Our tour did cost £5 each but included a £3 voucher for their whisky and a proper whisky tasting at the end.  It was an excellent experience and one which we highly recommend.

We had hoped to grab some lunch in the distillery's restaurant but, sadly, they don't have one.  Thus, starving, we headed back into town for lunch.  We stopped at the Pitlochry visitor's centre where we bought a £1 map of the area and received a few restaurant recommendations, which we ignored, and headed back out.

Black Spout

After lunch in town we headed off on our ramble of the area, through the Black Spout woods towards Edradour Distillery.  We haven't seen a waterfall in ages, so we were excited to incorporate this ramble into our day.  We love waterfalls.  The Black Spout woods themselves were nice, too, and the trail was empty and well maintained.

Edradour Distillery was a bit of a disappointment.  They have a sign out front, before even entering the gift shop, that there is a £5 admission.  Having just been on the best tour ever, we didn't want to do another tour and were unclear as to whether we would be charged just for entering the premises or if that was a tour charge.  Thus, we stayed off their grounds and just looked from afar.

We quickly headed the long way back to Pitlochry so we could go through the small town of Moulin on our way home.  We had heard good things about their brewery but, sadly, the brewery was closed to tours because their guide was on holiday.  Happily, the adjoining inn was open (and packed) so we were still able to sample the beer before leaving.

We arrived back into Pitlochry around 5:30pm and the town was hopping.  There were tons of people everywhere.  We were not prepared for this at all.  Our previous experience in Crieff had made us believe that towns closed down around 5pm in this area but Pitlochry looked like it was going to be open until the wee hours.  Apparently, if you want to party Pitlochry is your place.

We really had a great day, with some lovely scenery and nice drinks.  Pitlochry is definitely on our list of places to send friends when they visit and we'll keep our eye out for events at the Festival Theatre, another reason to visit the area.

For more pictures, please visit my Facebook page here.

Knock of Crieff

Crieff

For our October ramble, we headed west to Crieff, described in our Frommer's walking guide as 'an attractive resort town, situated on the Highland edge at the foot of the Knock, a hill with panoramic views over mountain, wood, and farmland.'  We were looking forward to this ramble for two reasons: 1, because we've yet to experience this part of the country and 2, because the ramble starts from the car park of the Glenturret Distillery, basically incorporating a distillery tour into our ramble.  Beginning a ramble in the Highland foothills with a wee dram of The Famous Grouse, Scotland's favourite whisky?  Yeah, sounded like the perfect day to us, too.

Getting to Crieff from Dundee required a 20 minute train ride to Perth (£7.50 return per person) and a further 45 minute bus ride (£4.10 return per person).  The distillery is a bit out of town on the main road but the walk is pleasant.  We left Dundee around 10am and arrived at the Glenturret Distillery around 12:30pm.  Upon arrival, we paid for the 1:30pm Experience tour (£8.95 per person) and then headed up to the restaurant to kill an hour.  The restaurant was disappointing, though we did enjoy a drink before moving on.  The shop was better and we walked away with a chunk of whisky fudge (£1.60) as our souvenir.

The tour itself was fun but, especially when compared to the free tour available at the Glenfiddich distillery in Dufftown, a bit expensive.  Our tour at the Glenfiddich distillery had a smaller group (though we were there in November) and ended with a proper tasting of their three whiskies (12, 15, and 18 years).  Our group at the Glenturret distillery was much larger (it sold out) and the tour felt fast.  Though we did get small samples of four of their whiskies (Snow, Famous, Black, and 10 year single malt), it was not a proper whisky tasting and I didn't leave respecting the flavours, as I did after the Glenfiddich tour.  The tour ended with a pretty cool short film and, overall, I'm glad we did it because we were there but, especially at that price, we'd recommend Dufftown and Glenfiddich for a cheaper and perhaps better, though similar, experience.

view from the summit

We began our Knock ramble around 2:15pm and finished around 5pm, just short of the book's estimated 3 hours.  The hike took us up a few hills (total elevation gain was 710 ft.), some of which were pretty steep, giving it a moderate rating from the book, which I agree with.  We encountered a few other ramblers but, otherwise, we were completely alone.  With a castle in the distance and the autumn colours, this was a particularly scenic hike and we would definitely recommend it, though we would suggest going on a clear day to take full advantage of the views from the summit.

Crieff itself was a surprise; we hadn't expected such a large town.  When we arrived in the early afternoon it was bustling with activity and we should've stopped then for a pint rather than heading straight for the distillery.  Upon our return, around 5:30pm, the town had already seemingly closed for the night so we didn't really get to experience much of Crieff.  We did find a couple pubs still open however, though the one we chose we weren't terribly impressed with.  There were a few takeaways to choose from too, but again, the one we chose we were disappointed with.  With nothing left to entertain us, we jumped on the 7pm bus back to Perth and were home before 9:30pm.

Monzie Castle

Although we experienced poor weather, our day was otherwise perfect and we highly recommend this itinerary including the distillery tour, but only if incorporating it into the ramble and not as an isolated attraction.

For more pictures, please visit my Facebook album here.

Fife Coastal Path: St Monans to Crail

Our first Sunday back in Scotland, to celebrate our successful move, we decided to ramble for five hours along the Fife Coastal Path.  We wandered down to the bus station, purchased two Fife Day Rider Plus tickets, allowing unlimited rides throughout Fife for £9 each, and were off by 11am.

Besides having to transfer in St Andrews, our ride was pretty simple.  The bus drivers we encountered were very helpful and friendly and, with their help, we made it to our destination, the tiny town of St. Monans, with ease.

Our ramble would take us from St. Monans, through Pittenweem, Anstruther, and Kilrenny, to Crail.  We had no idea what to expect but we were guessing something along the lines of last year's Arbroath to Auchmithie ramble, so we made sure to pack a lunch.  What we actually encountered were adorable, peaceful, picturesque, little seaside towns peppered along the beautiful coastal path.  We were absolutely enamoured.

The Fife Coastal Path is actually very long (81 miles) and part of a larger network of walking paths which take you up and down Scotland's coast.  We selected this section due to it being highlighted in one of our Scotland guide books.  Happily, we had such a lovely time we can't wait to explore more of it.  Next time we won't pack a lunch, though.  We encountered so many adorable towns with equally adorable pubs that we plan to incorporate them into our future rambles.

Our five hour ramble came to a perfect end when we bid adieu to the coastal trail in Crail, wandering towards the main road, to catch our bus in front of the post office back to St. Andrews.  We almost seamlessly caught our connecting bus back to Dundee and were home in what felt like a matter of minutes.  We could not have had a better reintroduction to Scotland than this ramble and we're looking forward to the next one.

For more pictures, please visit my Facebook album here.

Bath Day Trip

Jane Austen lived here

This past Sunday we hopped aboard the 9am train from Paddington station to Bath (Somerset) for our last London-based day trip of the summer. Situated 1 3/4 hours west of London, Bath is famous for its Roman ruins and healing thermal waters (both of which we completely bypassed).  Additionally, it was also the former residence of a little known author from the late 18th century (you may have heard of her), a Miss Jane Austen.

Upon arriving around 10:40am, we quickly made our way to the Bath Abbey for the only Jane Austen walking tour of the day.  Starting at 11am and lasting a bit longer than planned (2.5 hours rather than 1.5), our walking tour met our expectations for its historical anecdotes and literary references along with just being a nice introduction to such a lovely town.

Jane Austen lived in four homes in Bath.  First, when her brother was prescribed Bath’s healing waters (along with electric shock treatment) for his ailments, she and her mother accompanied his family on the trip. Next, upon retiring, her father relocated the household (including herself, her mother, and her sister) to Bath, where he subsequently died. Upon her father's death, the family tried to stay in Bath but, after relocating twice, finally acknowledged that Bath was prohibitively expensive for their circumstances and had to leave town for good.  Both Northanger Abbey and Persuasion are products of her time in Bath (neither of which I know anything about).

Parade Gardens

After our walking tour we grabbed a couple pints at The Porter, an adorable vegetarian pub with outdoor seating and a great location and then headed to 'the famous' Sally Lunn's to sample some 'world famous buns', where we wound up having an excellent lunch and grabbing a few buns to-go.  After our meal, we walked to the riverside to enjoy the sun, water, and our lovely surroundings.  Then, just to add to our contentment, a band began playing in the bandstand at Parade Gardens, across the River Avon from where we were sitting.  It was lovely.

Besides a disappointing hike up to Alexandra Park - located at the top of a neighbouring hill it was supposed to be a great spot to view the town but really isn't at all due to all the trees - we had a perfect day.  In hindsight, the hike was actually quite nice and the park was cute and, though requiring an exhaustive and frustrating search, we did eventually stumble upon a break in the trees which did provide a mediocre view of the town.  But, disappointing view aside, we did discover the existence of a ravenous, man-eating, invisible plant with a sting that lasts around 24 hours and is painful enough to make two adults run screaming from the wilderness.  So, you know, that was cool.

Royal Crescent

We spent the rest of the day revisiting spots from our walking tour and trying to find places that were pointed out in the distance and discussed but not actually seen.  We took a turn around the Royal Crescent, just like the high brows would've in Jane Austen's day, and found the spot where Jane Austen's father had been buried in a churchyard on the hill, next to one of Jane's inspirations, Frances Burney.

More than any of our other day trips, this trip to Bath was the most fun historically for me.  I'd say Bath is my favourite town thus far in the UK and I'm looking forward to returning for further exploration.

For more pictures, please visit my Facebook album here.

Baden-Baden, Baby

The flight from London Stansted to Baden-Baden only takes an hour.  We grabbed the first flight on Saturday morning and were in Germany by 10am.  The bus from Baden Airpark into town picked us up 40 minutes later (€3.80) and 20 minutes after that we were on the outskirts of town.  After a lovely hour's walk along a wooded path and babbling brook, plus a quick stop at the visitor's centre for a map, we were scoping out the lovely city centre by noon.

Baden-Baden is in Germany's Black Forest, as in the ham, and is well-known for its casino and healing thermal pools.  Although we did enter the casino's foyer, we were neither dressed well enough nor willing to pay the €5 admission fee to enter into the gaming area, so we turned right back around without further investigation.  We did, however, enjoy four glorious hours at the Caracalla Therme Baths.

Our first day was spent luxuriating in the pools and saunas of Caracalla, exploring the town, and eating and drinking as much local culinary delights as possible (a brat never tasted so good).  Our second day was spent in the hills.

I am absolutely sold on this charming mountain village.  To be able to stumble out your front door and, within just a few feet, find yourself up in the hills, at castle ruins, drinking a Hefe and eating a brat?  Heaven.

The weather turned angry whilst we were exploring the castle ruins and we were forced to seek shelter in the Irish coffee serving on-site cafe (where we probably would've wound up anyway).  After the sudden monsoon (seriously, the storm came out of nowhere and was crazy pouring) we headed back downhill.

We didn't want to miss the last bus back to the airport so we grabbed the next to last one, getting us to the airport approximately four hours earlier than necessary.  We left Germany around 10pm and were in our flat back in London by 1am.

What an amazing trip and what a fantastic introduction to Germany.  The Germans are friendly and kind, make amazing beer, and cook a mean brat.  We can't wait to explore their lovely country further.

For more pictures, please see my Facebook page here.

Brighton Day Trip

I had high hopes for Brighton.  Earlier this summer we visited the unknown seaside resort of Eastbourne and found it to be absolutely adorable and charming so the famous 'London by the Sea' should be much better, right?  Wrong.  Brighton was a mess.  There were some nice bits about it but mostly it was disappointing; over-crowded with unhappy families, an unexceptional pier, over-priced entertainment, and lots of hen-dos and stag groups wandering around in fancy dress screaming, trying to prove they were having a good time.  Perhaps Brighton just isn't our scene and most people enjoy it but, because it's not our scene, we'll be enjoying Eastbourne again before ever returning to Brighton.

The weather was overcast and a bit chilly with a strong breeze at the seaside when we arrived at around 10am yesterday morning.  We braved the breeze for a bit to check out the beach and pier but then headed inland to see the rest of the town.  We stumbled upon the Royal Pavilion, a Brighton must-see, but much like Oxford chose not to spend £6 per person to go inside, admiring the architecture from the exterior.

We found The Lanes, a charming but crowded area of small, winding streets with cute shops and restaurants, and promptly tucked in at English's Oyster Bar for an early al fresco lunch of oysters on the half shell and some live jazz.  This was a nice, safe spot to do some people watching before venturing out into the crowds again.

Post-oysters, we headed back to the shore for some seafront rambling.  We grabbed some cockles ('like clams'), whelks ('sea snails'), and anchovy wrapped olives for an impromptu beach picnic but the weather quickly chased us away.  We did sit on the stone beach long enough to determine it was more comfortable than expected, though walking on it was not pleasant at all.  Also, I liked the cockles more than the anchovy wrapped olives and the whelks  were okay with some vinegar and salt but otherwise a bit too chewy for my palate.

We spent the rest of the day just rambling around town and occasionally ducking into a pub to escape the poor weather.  One of the highlights of our day was discovering Bill's Cafe (thanks, Lou!), where we enjoyed afternoon tea.  This area of Brighton felt very authentic and we liked it a lot, though we didn't spend too much time exploring it.

The sun eventually did make an appearance and we rushed down to the seafront to enjoy it there.  We sat on the stones for a short while, just enjoying the beach and the sea.  When the sun started to set, and the chilly breeze returned, we headed back inland.  The crowd was beginning to change from families to fancy dress and the mood from stressed family outing to forced drunken fun.  Not enjoying either mood but finding the latter to be exponentially more dangerous than the former, we decided 8pm was a good time to split.

Yes, the stone beach was charming and The Lanes were cute as well but the rest of Brighton felt like forced fun and, though we're glad we went, we're sad to say Brighton is our first day trip disappointment since arriving in the United Kingdom almost a year ago.  That being said, that's not a bad record at all.

For more pictures, please see my Facebook page here.